1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to paint rollers in general, and, more particularly, to a bumper device for paint rollers which are formed of a handle, a configured rod and a roller. The bumper is set at a predetermined angle relative to the paint roller devise so as to not interfere with the rolling motion but so as to prevent a roller from contacting a ceiling or other surface which is in a 90 degree plane with the surface being painted.
2. Information Disclosure Statement Paint roller shields and the like have been developed over the years, but not in the form of the present invention devise.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,493 issued to Nathan Weiss on May 30, 1978 describes a paint roller using a conventional nap-type of roller which is rotatably mounted on an offset handle. The invention includes a shield which has a center part which has hingedly secured front and back sections. Elastic bands are employed on each end of the housing to hold together the front and back sections to the center part when in operation. The elastic bands function to connect the shield to the paint roller structure. In the shielding position, the housing surrounds the paint roller to intercept the paint spray. When the roller is removed from the painted surface, the shield is free to pivot to catch droplets that would otherwise fall to the floor. An adjustable adaptor assembly is employed on each end of the housing to permit the shield to be employed with rollers of different nap thicknesses. A roller assembly is connected to both the front and back parts so that the devise, when in use, will role with low fictional on the surface to be painted thereby not permitting the shield itself to come into contact with the painted surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,65.4,658 is directed to a splatter shield and bumper for a paint roller. This invention covers a device made up of a shield of light-weight material which can be clipped to the spindle holding the paint cylinder of a paint roller, and a clamp which can be affixed to the handle of a paint roller. The clamp has a rotatable plate affixed to it which plays as a finger portion for rotation of the plate. The rotational plate and the shield are linked together by guidelines which permit rotation of the shield to the desired position by mere finger pressure on the rotatable plate as the roller is being used.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,180 issued on Oct. 31, 1969 to Robert L. Anderson describes a non-smearing guard for attachment to the respective outward ends of an axle and a complimentary free-turning axle-supported striping-type paint roller. This attachment comprises an elongated protectively coated plate of prescribed size and shape the median portion of the inward attachable side of which is detachably and adjustably mounted on a pocket enclosed but accessible end of the axle. Equipped with this guard, the roller can be guidingly push-pulled along a sidewall surface proximal to the ceiling without smearing paint on the ceiling.
While the aforesaid prior art does describe shields and guards and bumpers for rollers, these guards are not attachable to the upward section of a rod and are not used for vertical motion of a roller to prevent such a roller from striking the ceiling above. In fact, the structure of the present invention is different from and much more simplified than the complex cumbersome commercially unacceptable devices described heretofore.